An Outdoor Wedding Between Two Travel Lovers – Patti & Jordan

Today’s on Marry Me Ink, tattooed bride Patti tells us how she created the perfect wedding at Foster Farm for her and husband Jordan. This included a gorgeous backdrop for their ceremony and memories from their day from J. Briggs Photography.

Jordan and I met at Six Flags in 2007. A big group of friends were going, and with an invitation by my brother, I went as well (Jordan was a friend of a friend of a friend sort of thing). At the Runaway Mountain rollercoaster I didn’t have a cart mate, and Jordan volunteered to ride with me. We introduced ourselves, and clicked right away, but we didn’t talk much after Runaway Mountain. As the day wore on, Jordan seemed like he wasn’t having fun, almost as though he was bored or having a bad day. I’m a pretty rambunctious person, so I grabbed a piece of ice from my water, and gave him a cold surprise on the neck. He smiled and I knew that I could at least make his night a little better. We ran off from the group to ride several of the rollercoasters before the park closer for the evening, got to know each other a bit, and really hit it off. I just wanted to cheer up his day, but little did we know that our meeting would change both of our lives.

Our ceremony backdrop, for sure, was a representation of who we are, and the items I chose had meaning in one way or another: a globe and my great Aunt Ruth’s vintage suitcase to denote our love of travelling, an ampersand as a symbol of continuation, and a large chunk of amethyst, which, in crystal meaning, is known to provide calm, balance, patience, and peace. Our backdrop was my little way of making a wedding wish for us both.

I had a few DIY at my wedding, one of which was my garter. I wanted it to match my boots, being very dark brown with black sequins (bride worthy, I know), and unless I was going to get someone to make one for me, I had to make it myself. It was fun, but it also wasn’t a giant DIY project. The biggest DIY at my wedding was building my dance floor. The men in my husband’s family (my husband included) are seriously talented at building anything, and they built it from scratch. I helped stained it, but that was the easy part.

Every other DIY I had planned fell by the wayside when planning got overwhelming. In the beginning of planning I had this phenomenal idea that I would fold 1,000 paper swans and put them into white lanterns. My husband is a quarter Japanese, and achieving 1,000 paper swans traditionally allots the folder a wish. Unfortunately, as the wedding date got closer and paper swans weren’t getting folded (although I have to give a super shout out to Lauren Besse, a good friend who folded about 50 or 60 for me in effort to help), paper swans became store-bought candles, and that was just fine with me.

When I purchased my dress, I didn’t have the large arm tattoo that made its debut at the wedding, but I did have the penrose triangle on my collarbone. I wouldn’t say that any tattoo would have had any effect on the dress I chose, since I chose it for the way it fit my body (and the super fun tulle skirt!) but I did like my arm piece being on display. If I were to choose a different dress knowing what I know today, I might have chosen a lace long sleeved version, but only because my wedding night was a bit chilly, and the reception was outdoors.

To be honest, we used to have matching tattoos, but we were young, and they’ve since been covered over for better tattoos. Having both of our large pieces done by Bob Leach is now what connects our tattoos most. Bob has a very distinct sense of style that is recognizable right away. Our arm pieces have similar meanings, as well, and in a sense connect them without needing to be blatant. I don’t think either one of us would get each other’s initials or names or anything like that, it just isn’t who we are.

Aside from having friends and family join you in celebration, definitely the first look was a highlight of our wedding day. At first, I didn’t fully understand what the draw was to them (aside from the killer images your photographer can capture). The truth is, in that small moment where you can take the time to be with your significant other, collect your thoughts, breathe, and appreciate a break in that very hectic day with one another, you feel very connected and ready to take the next step together. It’s moving and helpful at the same time.

my honest advice to anyone getting married

Let your wedding be true to yourself and who you are as a couple. There are so many couples that follow the wedding trend for the sake of – if that’s not who you are it’s ok to deviate from that. Truly, my one regret about my wedding is having such a large ceremony (if you can call 60 people large!). Jordan and I are somewhat private people, and we likely would have been happier getting married by ourselves next to the water with our toes in the sand, but we both really wanted to include our friends and families; We couldn’t have our cake and eat it, too. While we look back on that day fondly, and are incredibly grateful we had our wedding the way we did, there were plenty of times we thought about calling the big ceremony off to have a smaller one. I’d hope that any couples out there getting married don’t feel like they need to have their wedding a certain way just because social norms tell them so.

How fantastic is Patti and Jordan’s outdoor wedding? I absolutely love what they did for their day. Thank you to them both and to J. Briggs Photography for sharing it with Marry Me Ink today – Be sure to leave them some love.

Photographer: J. Briggs Photography
Wedding Ceremony & Reception: Foster Farm
Dress designer: David’s Bridal
Patti’s Boots: Corral Boots
Jordan’s Suit: Johnston & Murphy
Groomsmen: Kenneth Cole
Flowers: T&T Flower Boutique and Gifts
Hair & Make up: ERBN Bridal & Styling.
Cake: Cassady Kirk
Patti’s diamond and rose quarter sleeve and Jordan’s cosmic lower sleeve by Bob Leach